Tobias felt it too.
The knowledge only pissed Sullivan off further. And got him hard. He thought of his hands digging into Tobias’s arms the day before, thought of the red marks he’d left behind when he released him. Thought of Tobias letting him, not saying no or stop or don’t.
Thought of Nick saying monstrous.
He sat back abruptly and opened his mouth—not that he had anything of value to say, because his brain was completely blank—and sent a silent thank-you to the patron saint of stupid people when he was interrupted by the guard hurrying in, shooing them to their feet. “Go, go, she’s back, go, get out.”
Sullivan managed to snatch the notes and his printout of the security camera pic before he and Tobias were hustled down a long hallway and unceremoniously shoved out a rear door that locked behind them, the sudden heat like a slap in the face.
Sullivan led the way back to the car, ignoring the way Tobias had gone quiet and watchful, as if considering what he should say. Sullivan sure as shit wasn’t going to discuss this thickness in the air between them, and rather than give Tobias the chance to do so himself, he said, “I’ll put in the request to run the plates tonight, but we won’t see anything until Monday, so we should meet up again then.”
Instantly distracted, Tobias said, “That’s two days from now.”
“Good job. We’ll work on counting to three next. Watch out for four, though. That’s where it starts getting difficult.”
Tobias’s jaw set hard, the muscle going rigid, and Sullivan smiled a mean little smile of vindication.
Maybe it was immature, but being a dick to Tobias under these circumstances was kind of fun.
Chapter Nine
His stomach was acidic from too much coffee, his eyes felt dry with weariness from yet another bad night of sleep, and if Sullivan kept saying things like, “So I’ll come by the motel when I’ve got the results from the DMV. I’d wish you a happy weekend, but I think we both know I wouldn’t mean it,” Tobias was going to be committing assault in addition to bribery today.
They’d barely gotten anything done yet.
Tobias reminded himself to remain calm. Losing his temper wouldn’t help; it might even push Sullivan’s frustration into something else, something closer to that raw darkness that he’d seen yesterday in the motel when Tobias hadn’t backed down. The rawness that made Tobias’s stomach hot and fluttery, his skin tingly. Part of him wanted to know what it would be like if he pushed a hair’s breadth further, what Sullivan would do with it.
The rest of him knew that it might be more than he could handle, and he couldn’t afford to lose control of this. “That’s not all you’re going to be doing between now and then, right?”
“No, but it’s all background stuff. More research. Nothing for you to do.”
Tobias wondered if he was lying. “There has to be something.”
“Nope. Sitting at the computer. Boring. One-man job. Go away.”
As Sullivan went to unlock the door to the car, Tobias considered the likelihood of Sullivan leaving him here in the parking lot, and decided it was all too believable. He darted a hand in and snatched the keys from Sullivan’s fingers.
“Hey! Give me those.”
“If it’s just sitting at a computer, you can do it at the motel.” When Sullivan made a lunging grab for the keys, Tobias put a hand up between them and held the ring up in the air behind him with the other. “I’ll buy us food later. You can work and I’ll watch.”
Sullivan gave Tobias a small, frustrated shove so that he bounced back against the side of the Buick, the hot metal burning him through his T-shirt. It wasn’t violent enough to hurt, but adrenaline spiked through his blood anyway. Tobias pushed against Sullivan’s chest to keep him back, the sensation of that lean muscle against his palm making every nerve in his body light up.
Sullivan ground his teeth together. “You’re seriously going to watch me do research?”
The job, Tobias told himself. Concentrate on the job at hand. “Yes.”
Sullivan reached for the keys again, forcing Tobias harder against the car. Tobias held them farther out of reach, and Sullivan finally snapped, “Fine. Whatever. Give me the keys and we’ll go.”
Instead of obeying, Tobias pushed gently against Sullivan’s belly. “Step out of the way.”
For a long few seconds, Sullivan didn’t move. He simply stared at Tobias from inches away, his whole body tense, and it... God, it was intense being pressed up against him like this, Tobias’s bracing hand the only thing keeping them apart, Sullivan’s expression bordering on vicious, and Tobias wasn’t sure he was breathing by the time Sullivan took a small, deliberate step back.
The message was clear—Sullivan hadn’t moved because Tobias had told him to, but because he’d chosen to.
Tobias shivered despite the million-degree sun reflecting up off the asphalt, suddenly aware of nothing more than how much he wanted to lean forward and catch that annoyed mouth with his own.
“What is this?” Tobias asked, unthinkingly. His experience of romance until now had been simple, almost careless in comparison to the way this thing with Sullivan was building with countless small collisions and subtexts that Tobias couldn’t keep up with. He didn’t understand how Sullivan worked, how he kept making the ground beneath Tobias’s feet seem like thin ice, how Tobias could hold all the cards and yet still feel like Sullivan was the one winning the game.
He ran his gaze over Sullivan, looking for some clue to this strange hum between them. Sullivan wore jeans, big black boots, and a snug, plain gray T-shirt that showed off the stark black tattoos that covered both arms all the
